Plans for the expansion of a 400-home development put on hold more than a year ago have returned after new designs were unveiled.

Quinn Estates is hoping to add a further 32 properties at Cockering Farm, on the edge of Thanington, near Canterbury, having previously secured permission for the wider scheme.

The additional homes – envisaged to go on grassy scrubland behind homes facing the A28 – will be named Cockering Grove.

In papers submitted to Canterbury City Council, the developer says the estate will “ultimately become a vibrant new part of Canterbury”.

The application also states it will have a “transforming effect on the local area, improving its infrastructure and facilities, as well as adding wider benefits to the city”.

“Overall, the development will create an exciting residential area, in what is already recognised as a desirable place to live,” the documents state.

“It will reconcile the constraints and opportunities presented, and offer a solution that can be seen to maximise the potential of Cockering Farm.

“The proposed development at Cockering Grove will complement the vision for the new urban extension to Canterbury at Cockering Farm and will achieve the optimum balance of uses for the new sustainable community.”

The 32-home project would take place on a plot of land to the north of the Cockering Farm development.

The update comes after previous attempts to expand the development were shelved.

Kent County Council objected to the original plans submitted in June 2021, citing concerns over an “additional cumulative impact on the highway network”, which it says is already at capacity.

At the time, Quinn Estates claimed it would be taking measures to lower the potential impact of the additional homes.

If the plans are approved, it would mark the approval of almost 1,200 houses in Thanington since 2020.

Spread across former farmland between the A28, Milton Manor Road and Cockering Road, the Cockering Farm new builds have proved to be controversial.

In 2021, devastated residents described the first stages of construction of the 400-home estate as “utterly heartbreaking”.

Quinn Estates no longer has responsibility for the 400-home Cockering Farm scheme, which has been taken on by Redrow.

Meanwhile, work continues on the huge 750-home Saxon Fields development to the south side of Thanington.

Speaking out against the new scheme, Wincheap ward member Cllr Dane Buckman (Lab) believes there is “no need to congest” the area any further.

He said: “All developments, large or small, have an impact on our community. They put more pressure on our roads and infrastructure.

“We can, as the new administration, make sure that the houses built are affordable for local people and a good percentage turned over to social housing. Houses have to be sustainable and energy efficient.

"Thanington has so many houses being built and the sprawl can be seen visibly from New House Lane. There really is no need to congest a site so near to another development.

“Applicants for smaller build sites must contribute to the local community in a positive way and the bio-diversity net gain should be implemented for all builds, irrespective of size.”

Council bosses are expected to make a decision on Cockering Grove by August this year.